Sierra Leone Disease

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Pages: 6

There are several major burdens of disease affecting Sierra Leone, the largest include: Malaria (number one in rank of years of life lost in 2010, only decreased % 3 from 1990), protein-energy malnutrition (decreased by 54% from 1990, was the largest burden at that time), and lower respiratory infections (maintained its third position, declining % 52 between 1990-2010) (Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, 2010).
Malaria is considered a significant global health concern, currently 3.3 billion people are at risk of being infected by malaria, there were approximately 207 million estimated cases in 2012 and approx. 627 000 people died, most of the deaths were children under five in Africa (World Health Organization, 2013).The disability
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The poorest population group in one of the poorest countries in the world has to shoulder a large segment of its global health burden. Thankfully, since 2010, malarial diagnosis and Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT) has been free in Sierra Leone, reducing personal economic costs (World Health Organization, 2013). However personals financial costs including: transportation to health care facilities, support for sick individuals, purchasing insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITN’s), non-supported medical/drug fees, and burial of the deceased remain significant economic obstacles. The World Health Organization estimates the yearly cost required to reach universal coverage and implement the required interventions at 5.1 billion US dollars (World Health Organization, 2013).In 2012 the total funding reached 2.5 billion US dollars, less than half the estimated cost for the year (World Health Organization, 2013), a stark example of the impact economics has on national and global …show more content…
Tropical regions. Those closer to the equator present more of a challenge, as mosquitoes are prevalent year round (Rutgers University, 2011). Malaria is the largest cause of illness and death in Sierra Leone and as a poor, equatorial country, it is a haven for the malaria parasite (World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa, 2014). Drug and insecticide resistance, increased population movement, and lack of funding and participation in control programs continue to hamper global malaria control initiatives (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,